Tips for Navigating the (Boy Scout) Orienteering Merit Badge

Best Practices: Build a Better Scout O Event

We have suggestions for a great Scout O event in the Best Practices folder in the OUSA Library. Find it here, titled: "How to build a successful scout O."

Eagle Scout Projects

Some scouts have produced permanent orienteering courses in their areas for their Eagle Scout service project. Several of them incorporate QR technology that can be used with smartphones. Some examples:

In the Bay area of California, at Vasona Lake County Park and Bedwell Bayfront Park. Users can access map files using QR codes posted in the park.

In Plano, Texas, at Bob Woodruff Park, Jared Chrisman created the software to generate courses from control points he installed. "This is one of the first public orienteering courses in the country to use QR-codes to record a participant’s location and progress."

A trainer's perspective

Orienteering Lesson Plan

Ed Scott, former Boy Scout Liaison for Orienteering USA, developed a lesson plan designed to give the Scout an understanding of the sport of Orienteering and of the mental and physical benefits he can obtain through participation in the sport. The Scout who participates in this program and does all the assigned work should obtain both a thorough understanding of Orienteering and earn the Orienteering Merit Badge.

The plan is based on a four-day camp activity schedule with a morning class of one hour duration. In addition, each Scout should have at least one hour of time every afternoon to devote to running courses and doing required written assignments. Some Scouts will require extra help or time for these requirements, thus a fifth day may become necessary.

The instructor will set courses each day which should be available for at least a 2.5 hour period in the afternoon. Each day will offer a new course and new challenges so that every boy will have ample opportunity to run his three required courses.

This plan can also be adapted to a troop meeting + Saturday event format and used as a "theme of the month" presentation.

In a summer camp situation, two or three sets of courses must be developed to avoid overuse of specific areas in the camp. Rotate through the sets of courses week by week.